PARIS - Myanmar's democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, nearing the end of her triumphant Europe tour in France, accepted another award Wednesday as she became an honorary citizen of Paris. "You are a woman of peace and love, and this is why Paris also loves you," said mayor Bertrand Delanoehe, hailing her "tenacity" and "unshakeable faith" in her campaign for democracy in the country formerly called Burma. The Nobel Peace laureate - who spent almost two decades under house arrest for her freedom struggle - has been cheered by crowds and leaders on her five-nation tour, her first visit to Europe in a quarter-century.
In France, she was treated with honours normally reserved for a head of state, dining at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday with President Francois Hollande, who pledged support for her country's transition towards democracy.
Myanmar was for decades ruled by an iron-fisted junta, but a reformist government under ex-general President Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and allowed Suu Kyi's party back into mainstream politics.
Suu Kyi, 67, has in the past two weeks visited Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Britain and now France, receiving rock star welcomes along the way.
The trip allowed her to finally give her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize speech in Oslo, and to thank groups and institutions from the Rafto Foundation and Amnesty International to Oxford University for awards they have given her.
On Wednesday, she received her 2004 honorary citizen of Paris certificate and met with the Paris mayor, Delanoe. City Hall once honoured Suu Kyi by hanging a huge portrait of her outside the building in 2007.